Monica Pinette (born February 5, 1977) is a two-time Olympic

modern pentathlete The modern pentathlon is an Olympic multisport that consists of five events: fencing (one-touch épée followed by direct elimination), freestyle swimming, obstacle course racing, laser pistol shooting, and cross country running. The sport wa ...

from Canada. She is one of the first female Canadian modern pentathletes, and the only indigenous athlete of (

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

) to compete at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens, Greece Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Her 13th-place finish overall at the 2004 Summer Olympics was Canada's best recorded performance in the modern pentathlon to date.

Early life and career

Pinette was born in the city of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and grew up in Langley, British Columbia. Pinette began her sporting career as a member of the Pony Club in Vancouver. She took up the pentathlon at age 21. She has participated in modern pentathlon at different local clubs for swimming, shooting, fencing, and horse-riding. Pinette provides a unique challenge for her opponents as she is left handed, a rarity in the sport of fencing. Pinette graduated from the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...

with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, and earned a diploma in Journalism and Photojournalism from the Western Academy of Photography. She was coached by her husband Philipp Waeffler, 1996 Olympic modern pentathlete from Switzerland. Pinette describes the dynamic of having her husband and coach be the same person as having "Two Philipps" and admits that she has to separate her husband from coach in order to avoid getting frustrated. In 2009, Monica Pinette received the British Columbia Premier's Award. She received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, now known as the

Indspire Awards The Indspire Awards, until 2012 the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, are annual awards presented by Indspire in Canada. The awards are intended to celebrate and encourage excellence in the Aboriginal community in Canada. About The award ...

in the sport category in 2010. Pinette admits she was surprised to win the award, as pentathlon is a small sport, and usually lacks media coverage or attention.

Awards

She made her international debut at the 2002 and 2003 World Championships and eventually competed at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, where she finished seventh. Following this Pinette qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, along with her compatriot Kara Grant. They made their national debut in the women's event. With her strongest performance in the fencing segment, Pinette finished successfully in thirteenth place, the highest position achieved by a modern Canadian pentathlete, male or female, in Olympic history. Pinette continued to earn a fourth-place finish for the team relay at the 2006 World Modern Pentathlon Championships in

Guatemala City, Guatemala Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the national capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala. It is also the municipal capital of the Guatemala Department and the most populous urban metropolitan are ...

, and also, her first medal by winning gold at the Pan American Championships in the same year. She also added her silver medal at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the sixth-most-populous city in the Americas. Founded in 1565 by the Portuguese, the city wa ...

, automatically receiving a qualifying berth for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. At the Olympics, Pinette finished in twenty-seventh place, following a poor performance in the last three sporting segments.

Personal life

Currently, Monica Pinette is a retired pentathlete and is working towards raising awareness for aboriginal athletes in Canada as well as giving advice on how to live a healthy lifestyle, specifically as an aboriginal person. She contributed to the creation of a booklet titled ''Growing Up Healthy'' that encourages First Nations parents in British Columbia to live a healthy lifestyle. Pinette is married, has two sons and is living with her family near Cologne in Germany.

References

External links

*
archived page from Pentathlon.org
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinette, Monica 1977 births Living people Canadian female modern pentathletes Olympic modern pentathletes for Canada Modern pentathletes at the 2007 Pan American Games Modern pentathletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics Modern pentathletes at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Sportspeople from Vancouver Indspire Awards Métis sportspeople Pan American Games silver medalists in modern pentathlon Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games 21st-century Canadian sportswomen